


adapt

by spacs



Series: i never knew anyone until i knew you [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Android Ignis AU, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:21:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacs/pseuds/spacs
Summary: “You’re safe.”It was true. Ignis was designed for the prince and his comfort – a guide as he grew older and took his path to the throne. A prototype for the crown and the crown alone.





	adapt

**Author's Note:**

> _The first entry in an ongoing Android!Ignis series._
> 
>  
> 
> Saturday entry for the ignoct week writing weekend  
> Words: noctilucent (phosphorescent; glowing in the dark)  
> Place: Citadel ****

Ignis did not understand why they gave him a bed. They did not put that information in his software. The prince knew what he was and what he was not, yet he was told to act as a human child.

Noctis thought he had super powers when they first met.

_I am your personal android, highness._

That was two years ago. In the two hardware upgrades he had received, they had not taken that memory nor any other memory he now shared with the crown prince. The king thought it important that Noctis have a constant friend throughout childhood. From information catalogued, Ignis gathered that the prince, at five years, was getting too old to believe in fairytales. Ignis was a machine – a tool – not a friend.

“Ignis?” A voice from the door of his room.

Ignis sat up in his bed, turning to face the small figure silhouetted by the dim light of the window. “Noctis?”

Noctis padded carefully through Ignis’s room, as if scared he might trip over something. Ignis’s room was not like Noctis’s, it was clean and immaculate – free of the clutter from a child’s toys. Ignis was not a child.

“It’s too dark,” Noctis whispered, using his arms to climb up into the bed. “I’m scared.”

There was a quiet patter of rain. Ignis looked to the window to see the storm just as a clap of thunder had Noctis scuttering closer to him, wrapping himself in the blankets. “It is not less dark here,” Ignis reasoned.

“But _you’re_ here.”

“Why does that matter?”

Through the dark, Ignis could see Noctis’s face scrunch, as if he tasted something sour. Ignis started to make sure he was alright but the prince answered first, “You’re safe.”

It was true. Ignis was designed for the prince and his comfort – a guide as he grew older and took his path to the throne. A prototype for the crown and the crown alone, and a gift from Insomnia’s neighboring nation, Niflheim, Ignis was Noctis’s constant companion. It was why he was given the room across the hall from the prince, the bed was a show for Noctis until he was old enough to separate friend from machine.

A flash of lightning lit the room for a moment, followed by a low rumble of thunder. Noctis made a displeased noise in the back of his throat and shuffled to Ignis’s side. Ignis lifted his arm as Noctis plastered himself against his side, wrapping arms around Ignis’s waist and into a hug. Adapt. A brief search through his software and Ignis settled his hand on a shoulder, feeling the prince trembling slightly beneath his touch.

“What can I do, Noctis?”

“I don’t know. It’s just dark.”

Ignis tilted his head in consideration. “Close your eyes.”

“Huh?”

“Close your eyes. You will not know it is dark if your eyes are closed.”

Noctis paused. “I’ll know,” he murmured.

A new approach, then. Adapt. “I have a function that will make my eyes glow.”

“What?” Noctis leaned back, looking up at Ignis.

“I have a function that will make my eyes glow,” he repeated.

“What’s a function?” Noctis squinted at him.

“An ability.” No response. “A talent,” he tried. Still nothing. Noctis tilted his head, looking more confused than before. _Adapt_. “A superpower.”

Instantly, Noctis’s eyes lit up. “I _knew_ it.”

Ignis offered a small upturn of his lips, a smile. “It will not frighten you?”

“ _No_ ,” Noctis returned. He sat up completely, legs crossing next to Ignis and hands planted firmly on the bed in anticipation. “I wanna _see_!”

Ignis nodded and sat to attention, closing his eye lids. He reached into his programming for the correct execution. His brow drew in as he concentrated to pull the code from his software – it was not frequently used and more of an error than an actual function. The doctors, as he had been told to call them, did not remove it because it did nothing to hinder his tasks.

“There.” He opened his eyes and the light illuminated Noctis’s face. The prince stared into Ignis’s eyes with awe and childish joy. “Is this better?”

“You should do that all the time,” he said excitedly, scooting closer.

Ignis let out a single laugh. Naivety. “My purpose is to be seen as human.” He gestured to his eyes. “Humans eyes cannot illuminate—” Noctis’s lips pursed in confusion. “ _Glow_ ,” he corrected.

“They should.” The prince nodded, agreeing with himself. “It’d be cooler if they glowed.”

Noctis fell silent, staring at Ignis and their surroundings. He pushed himself forward, crossed legs touching Ignis’s sides as he leaned in. Hands framed Ignis’s face as Noctis scrutinized him, and Ignis found himself unable to meet Noctis’s gaze. The expression on his face was intense and investigative, and it made Ignis feel self-conscious.

The thought made him frown. He was due for a scan soon. Perhaps the simulation was too powerful in an attempt to make the prince see his as a companion.

 _Adapt_. He pushed the feeling away. He is a tool. In time, Noctis will understand this.

“I knew you had superpowers.”

Ignis smiled. “You were right.” He was wrong, but the fantasy was harmless for now.

“What other funshuns can you do?”

“Functions,” Ignis corrected. “I can do a lot of things.”

“Can you fly?”

“No.”

“Are you really strong?”

“No.”

“Super fast?”

“No.”

Noctis pouted, dropping his hands from their place on Ignis’s cheeks. “Then what _can_ you do?”

The myriad of tasks he had been endowed with thus far filtered into his processors. Noctis is a child and not looking for menial functions – he wanted something impressive, a hero. _Adjust_.

“It is not a power but it is fun,” Ignis offered.

The prince narrowed his eyes, considering, before nodding in acceptance. Ignis blinked and laid flat on his back, waving for Noctis to follow him. The prince adjusted his legs and cuddled into Ignis’s side, looking up a where Ignis had directed the light.

He lifted both of his hands, one flat and the other with fingers curled upward. “It is an anak.”

Noctis stared at the ceiling and Ignis chanced a look at him. The prince’s lips slowly curled into a smile as he watched Ignis move the shadow and he tilted his head to the side.

Adjust. Ignis folded his fingers across each other, sticking his thumbs out to resemble a beak. “Chickatrice.” He made a chirping sound as he moved his thumbs and Noctis laughed.

A right path. He wanted to hear the prince laugh again.

Curling his thumbs together, he spread his hands to the side and cawed. “Zu,” he offered, moving his hands to mimic the flapping of wings.

“That’s a good one,” Noct giggled. He lifted his hands next to Ignis’s and tried to mirror his movements, but not fully understanding the way his thumbs needed to be hooked together.

“Here.” Ignis dropped his own puppet and put his hands on Noct’s, helping him put his fingers and thumbs in the correct places. Instead of the same one, he scrunched his hand into a fist leaving knuckles up for the ears. “Now I am a cat and you are the Zu.”

Noctis waved his puppet around, letting it fly across the light as he laughed gleefully.

“Are you still scared?”

Grinning widely, Noctis looked over at him, dropping his hands. He shook his head shifted closer so that he could rest on Ignis’s chest. _Adapt_ , _adjust_. Ignis blinked, putting an arm around Noctis’s shoulder once more. He could feel Noctis’s heart beating rhythmically and the steady breaths the prince took indicated that the fear had passed. Mission successful.

“Can I sleep here?” The question was whispered so quietly, Ignis knew the prince was already halfway to sleep. It was endearing and Ignis tilted his head, closing his eyes, taking a moment to let the moment pass.

Adjust.

“Of course, Noctis.” He squeezed Noctis’s shoulder once and the prince returned with a pleased sigh.

“Thanks, Iggy.”

Iggy?

Noctis’s breathing evened out as he fell into sleep and Ignis, without the ability to sleep, stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. His chest felt constricted and he quickly ran a diagnostic program that came back clean. He frowned and looked down at the prince lying on his chest, the light illuminating his face. His skin was almost glowing and a sweet, small smile graced his lips.

Ignis found himself smiling back.

Children often gave nicknames to their cherished things – stuffed animals, blankets, action figures. That must be what an _Iggy_ was to Noctis.

Cherished.

It felt… good.

Adapt.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr [@spacs](spacs.tumblr.com)!  
> 


End file.
